BILL NUMBER: SB 578 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 13, 1999
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 21, 1999
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 1, 1999
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 14, 1999
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 5, 1999
INTRODUCED BY Senator Poochigian
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Mazzoni)
(Principal coauthor: Senator Alpert)
FEBRUARY 23, 1999
An act to add Section 60643.1 to the Education Code, relating to
pupil testing, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect
immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 578, as amended, Poochigian. Standardized Testing and
Reporting Program: reading list.
Existing law, the Leroy Greene California Assessment of Academic
Achievement Act, establishes the Standardized Testing and Reporting
Program, to be known as the STAR Program. The act requires the State
Board of Education to require the State Department of Education to
notify publishers of the opportunity to submit, for consideration by
the State Board of Education, tests of achievement that include
certain basic skills and core curriculum areas. Existing law
requires test publishers, to be eligible for consideration under
those provisions, to agree in writing each year to certain
requirements, including, among others, providing pupil scores to
parents or guardians, teachers, and school administrators.
This bill would also require the test publishers designated by the
board commencing in the 1998-1999 school year, and each year
thereafter, to make available, for purchase by school districts, a
report that provides the numerical distribution of the reading scores
of all pupils that took the STAR test and a customized reading list
for each individual pupil who has taken the English Language Arts
portion of the STAR test, at the same time that test scores are
reported to the parent or guardian under the provisions of the STAR
Program. The bill would require this customized reading list to
include titles of literature that will allow the pupil to practice
reading at his or her current reading level, as determined by the
publisher's review of the pupil's reading performance on the STAR
test, and that will assist the pupil in achieving a higher level of
reading proficiency. The bill would also require any title included
in the customized list to meet certain requirements concerning the
use of instructional materials. The bill would require the State
Board of Education to jointly certify with the Superintendent of
Public Instruction that the process used by the publisher to
determine reading levels of the customized reading list meets certain
criteria, including that the process is educationally valid. The
bill would also require the list of titles to be made available on
the Internet with an index that correlates reading scores on the STAR
test to titles on the reading list that would be suitable for pupils
in each of grades 2 to 11, inclusive , and would require the
test publisher to develop a revised Internet list annually .
The bill would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction,
subject to an appropriation therefor, to apportion funds to enable
school districts to purchase the customized reading list made
available pursuant to those provisions, in an amount not to exceed
$0.50 per pupil.
The bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an
urgency statute.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) It is imperative that reading skills among California's pupils
be improved.
(b) The English/Language Arts framework and the content standards
adopted by the State Board of Education pursuant to Section 60605 of
the Education Code, serve as the basis for a complete reading program
that includes the foundational skills of phonemic awareness and
phonics, as well as reading comprehension and literature
appreciation.
(c) Research on the teaching of reading demonstrates that
providing all children with appropriate literacy and reading
experiences is likely to set the stage for successful reading and
academic achievement in later years.
(d) Effective reading instruction involves a combination of
explicit instruction in word recognition skills and reading
comprehension strategies with opportunities to apply and practice
these skills in literature.
(e) Practice in the skills being taught will provide opportunities
for California's pupils to improve their reading comprehension,
appreciate quality literature, and achieve the English/Language Arts
academic content standards for kindergarten and grades 1 to 12,
inclusive.
(f) Schools should encourage teachers to use the STAR test scores
and the customized reading list described in Section 60643.1 of the
Education Code to help parents understand their children's reading
ability and how to make selections from the list.
SEC. 2. Section 60643.1 is added to the Education Code, to read:
60643.1. (a) In addition to the requirements of Section 60643,
commencing in the 1998-99 school year, and each year thereafter, the
test publisher designated by the State Board of Education pursuant to
Section 60643 shall make available for purchase by school districts
a schoolsite report that provides a numerical distribution of the
reading scores of all pupils that took the STAR test.
(b) (1) In addition to the requirements of Section 60643
commencing in the 1998-99 school year, and each year thereafter, each
test publisher shall make available, for purchase by school
districts, a reading list customized to each pupil's English Language
Arts STAR test score, and age, for each individual pupil who has
taken the English Language Arts portion of the STAR test, at the same
time that test scores are reported to the parent or guardian
pursuant to Section 60643. This customized reading list shall
include titles of literature that will allow the pupil to practice
reading at his or her current reading level, as determined by the
publisher's review of the pupil's reading performance on the STAR
test and that will assist the pupil in achieving a higher level of
reading proficiency.
(2) Any title included in the customized reading list provided
pursuant to paragraph (1) shall meet the requirements of
Article 3 (commencing with Section 60040) of Chapter 1.
be from the list developed pursuant to paragraph (4).
(3) The customized list for each pupil and the titles listed at
each reading level posted on the Internet pursuant to paragraph (6)
shall include all the titles that have been submitted to the
State Department of Education and jointly approved by
the State Board of Education and the Superintendent of Public
Instruction for purposes of this section.
(4) At a minimum, the titles to be included in the customized
reading lists shall include all relevant literature materials
approved as being legally compliant pursuant to Article 3 (commencing
with Section 60040) of Chapter 1, and the
titles listed in all of the content area reading and literature lists
that are developed and published by the State Department of
Education that have been determined to meet the relevant
reading level as certified pursuant to paragraph (4).
(4) (5).
(5) The State Board of Education shall jointly certify with
the Superintendent of Public Instruction that the process used by the
publisher to determine the reading levels of the customized reading
list pursuant to paragraph (1) meets the following criteria:
(A) The process is educationally valid.
(B) The process results in a reading list for each reading span
that provides titles at the pupil's current reading level and the
next higher level for challenging practice.
(C) The process results in a selection from the universe of titles
from the department's legal compliance list
list approved pursuant to paragraph (3) that matches each
reading level.
(D) The process is unbiased in the selection of publishers' titles
from the legal compliance list.
(5) By imposing the requirements of this subdivision on publishers
it is not the intent of the Legislature to unfairly disadvantage any
publisher who has otherwise met the requirements of this section or
of Article 3 (commencing with Section 60040).
(6) The list of titles on the customized reading list made
available pursuant to paragraph (1) shall also be made available on
the Internet with an index that correlates reading scores on the STAR
test to titles on the reading list that would be suitable for pupils
in each of grades 2 to 11, inclusive. To the extent possible, the
index shall also include information related to the subject matter of
each title. At a minimum, the Internet site shall also categorize
titles by subject matter and identify age-appropriate distinctions in
the list.
(c) The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall, subject to an
appropriation therefor, apportion funds to enable school districts to
purchase the customized reading list provided pursuant to
subdivision (b) in an amount not to exceed fifty cents ($0.50) per
pupil.
(d) Beginning with tests administered in spring 2000, and every
year thereafter, the publisher shall develop a revised Internet
posting pursuant to paragraph (6) of subdivision (b) no later than
April 15. The publisher shall make the customized list pursuant to
paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) available to local educational
agencies not later than June 30 of each year.
SEC. 3. For tests administered in Spring 1999, the publisher shall
develop the Internet posting pursuant to paragraph (6) of
subdivision (b) of Section 60643.1 no later than July 15,
1999 August 31, 1999 . No later than September
30, 1999, the publisher shall make available to local educational
agencies the customized lists pursuant to paragraph (1) of
subdivision (b) of Section 60643.1 in a separate report from the
score results reported pursuant to Section 60643.
SEC. 4. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
To improve the reading skills of California's public school pupils
as expeditiously as possible, it is necessary that this measure take
effect immediately.